Marriage Doomed, Women and Heterosexuals Hardest Hit

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Senate supporters of the Marriage Protection Amendment just lost the big vote, winning a mere 49 votes and failing to win cloture. They needed 67 to pass the amendment on to the states, but expected the Republican majority could scrape out 52 to 56 votes. The biggest surprise—New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg. The most conservative senator in New England changed his vote on the amendment to "no" because he could see firsthand that gay marriage wasn't hurting anyone.

Gregg said that in 2004, he believed the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in that state would undermine the prerogatives of other states, like his, to prohibit such unions.

"Fortunately, such legal pandemonium has not ensued," Gregg said in a statement. "The past two years have shown that federalism, not more federal laws, is a viable and preferable approach."